In their first extended road trip since the end of October and beginning of November, the Tampa Bay Lightning headed to the West Coast for road games against the Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Seattle Kraken. Tampa Bay went 3-1 in these games, beating Vancouver, and blowing out Calgary and Seattle. They only dropped a close game to Edmonton during this stretch.
The first game up for the Lightning was against the Canucks. Vancouver got on the board initially with a goal from Quinn Hughes to take a 1-0 lead going into the second period. But Tampa Bay was able to get the offense going in the second with two goals, one each from Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point, as the Lightning took a 2-1 lead heading into the third period.
Early in the third period, Kiefer Sherwood found the net for a goal to tie the game at 2-2. With the game still tied late in the period, Tampa Bay was able to light the lamp twice as Jake Guentzel scored on the power play that ended up being the game-winning goal. Point added an empty net goal, his second of the game, and the Lightning won 4-2.
The Oilers were next up on the schedule. In contrast to the game against the Canucks, this game was a much lower scoring affair. Once again, Tampa Bay started off the game trailing in the first period as Connor McDavid scored his 14th goal of the season to give Edmonton a 1-0 lead heading into the second period.
Guentzel responded with a goal of his own, his 13th of the season, halfway through the second to tie the game 1-1. But just over a minute later, Leon Draisaitl scored his 20th goal of the season and gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead that they would never relinquish. The Oilers won their third straight game, snapping a two-game winning streak for the Lightning in the process.
Facing the Flames in their third game of this road trip, Tampa Bay was going to have to play without Victor Hedman due to a lower-body injury. A goal by Jonathan Huberdeau gave Calgary an early 1-0 lead, forcing the Lightning to have to play from behind again. However, a goal by Kucherov, his 14th of the season, tied the game up 1-1 heading into the second period.
Tampa Bay had a flurry of goals to start the second period, scoring three goals in less than five minutes. Guentzel, Point and Anthony Cirelli all added goals for the Lightning, with the latter two coming on power plays as the Lightning suddenly led 4-1.
Calgary wasn’t going down that easily though. The Flames attempted to mount a comeback with goals from Nazem Kadri and Connor Zary as the Lightning only led 4-3 heading into the third period.
However, a comeback from the Flames was not meant to be as the Lightning were able to dominate the final period. Tampa Bay lit the lamp four times with goals from Brandon Hagel, Conor Geekie and two more goals from Guentzel as he earned a hat trick in the 8-3 blowout win.
In their fourth and final game during this West Coast road trip, the Lightning headed to Seattle to take on the Kraken before heading back home. Brandon Montour started things off with a power-play goal, his eighth goal of the season, giving the Kraken a 1-0 lead.
Tampa Bay was quick to respond with a goal of their own, courtesy of Hagel, to tie the game up at 1-1. From there, it was all Lightning. Point scored his 20th goal of the season as the Lightning led 2-1 at the end of the first period.
Although there were no goals scored in the second period, Jonas Johansson made three quick saves within 10 feet of the goal against Eeli Tolvanen, shutting down Seattle’s best chances in the process.
With Guentzel adding a power-play goal early in the third period to give Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead, Seattle decided to pull the goalie near the end of the game. Hagel scored on the empty net, his 15th goal of the season, to give the Lightning a 4-1 lead and icing the game in the process.
In the final minute of the game, Declan Carlile scored his first NHL goal to cap off Tampa Bay’s 5-1 win and 3-1 West Coast road trip. The Lightning still hold a wild card playoff spot.
Returning home for three games, the Lightning face off against the Columbus Blue Jackets, St. Louis Blues and Florida Panthers. The team will then go to Sunrise for a road game against the Panthers the following day before returning home for games against the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens to wrap up 2024.
Last night, the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-3. This game will be covered in the future.
